Texas lawmaker calls vaccines 'sorcery,' verbally attacks prominent advocate

Nope, not The Onion.

Texas has seen a substantial uptick in parents demanding vaccine exemptions for their kids. Dr. Peter Hotez, a pediatrician and scientist who develops neglected disease vaccines for the world’s poorest people, responded thus:

“Children of #Texas have been placed in harm’s way for the financial gain of special & outside interest groups. Calling on our TX elected leaders to say ‘NO MAS’ and stand up for our children!”

One of those elected leaders, Republican Jonathan Stickland, promptly accused Dr. Hotez of being in the pocket of Big Science:

“You are bought and paid for by the biggest special interest in politics. Do our state a favor and mind your own business. Parental rights mean more to us than your self enriching ‘science.’ #txlege”

Dr. Hotez politely replied, “Sir, as you know, I don’t take a dime from the vaccine industry.” Stickland ignored the inconvenient facts, doubled down on his own false accusations, and–yes, really!–called vaccines “sorcery” and Dr. Hotez’s support for them “disgusting”:

“Make the case for your sorcery to consumers on your own dime. Like every other business. Quit using the heavy hand of government to make your business profitable through mandates and immunity. It’s disgusting.”

Those weren’t nearly enough insults for Stickland, though:

“Stickland continued the onslaught with others happy to engage the fight. In a span of an hour, he tweeted that vaccines are ‘dangerous,’ that a doctor concerned about the child’s vulnerability to disease is a ‘brainwashed commie’ and that a defender of science is a ‘typical leftist trying to take credit for something only The Lord God Almighty is in control of.’”